Legate
name, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A deputy representing the pope, specifically a papal ambassador sent on special ecclesiastical missions.
- 2 A legacy or bequest. obsolete
- 3 a member of a legation wordnet
- 4 An ambassador or messenger.
"Moſt great and puiſant Monarke of the earth, Your Baſſoe wil accompliſh your beheſt: And ſhew your pleaſure to the Perſean, As fits the Legate of the ſtately Turke."
- 5 The deputy of a provincial governor or general in ancient Rome.
"Legate, I had the news last night—my cohort ordered home By ships to Portus Itius and thence by road to Rome."
- 1 To leave as a legacy. transitive
- 2 past participle of legate form-of, obsolete, participle, past
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"Moſt great and puiſant Monarke of the earth, Your Baſſoe wil accompliſh your beheſt: And ſhew your pleaſure to the Perſean, As fits the Legate of the ſtately Turke."
Etymology
Inherited from Old English legat(e), from Old French legat, from Latin lēgātus, substantivized from the perfect passive participle of lēgō (“to bequeath, send as envoy”).
Borrowed from Latin lēgātus, perfect passive participle of lēgō (“to bequeath, leave as legacy, legate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).
Borrowed from Latin lēgātum (“a legacy”), substantivized from the neuter forms of the perfect passive participle of lēgō (“to bequeath, leave as legacy, legate”). Doublet of legacy.
More for "legate"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.